Vintage Feels
Another year, another Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. And yet, thegathering at Laguna Seca never gets old.
It’sa rare weekend of the year where manufacturers, engineers, drivers, and spectators alike all get to bask in the nostalgic glory of their younger years at the race track. Maybe eventhisrace track, watching some of these exact cars scream past. For those of us who weren’t quite aroundwhen these cars were designed and built,RMMRprovides a unique opportunity to experience them as they were meant to be experienced: at speed.
Every day at this event is a special one, a collective roar from motorsports past — a roarheard around the world.
Cars fromevery corner of the United States turn up, and attendees arrive from around the globe. It’s tradition now, and a vibrant source of motorsport folklore.
Duringthis weekend there are more stories in the Laguna Secapaddock thanyou could fit in an encyclopedia, and there are plenty of wise oldvoices that are quick to share a few. Or several. Dozens of stories, even.
It makes sense, too, asmany of these very cars raced this storied course in decades past. And even better, some of the drivers at the event actually raced here when itreally mattered.
This isthe holy grail of historic racing in America, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. You can feel it on your skin; you can taste it in the air. The atmosphere is thick with the history of these cars, their owners, and their accomplishments. It’s a serious ordeal, and it’s a genuine privilege to experience these cars up close, year in and year out.
It’s one thing to see these giants of motorsport in a museum, but it’s just that much more awe-inspiring to hear them wound up on a race track. I’m not exaggerating when I say you can feel the downshifts, the flat-out acceleration, and theraucous backfire inside your chest cavity.
As I touched on in my visit toImpeccable Inc.— where this Duracell-liveried ’91 Trans Am champresides — this is all even more amazing when you consider the collective hours invested into maintaining these racing machines from bygone eras. If you actually run the numbers on restoring the cars present at this event, it comes to roughly one million man-hours,probably more.Dollars-wise, I don’t even want to know.
But what I do know is that there’s nothing like a vintage race weekend, especially at the usually sound-regulated WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca road course. The track has been under threat of wealthy noise-adverse neighbors for a long time, andthis is the exact reasonthat dozens of other circuits around the globe have had to shut their doors for good.
It boggles my mind that some peoplewouldn’t want to hear the glorious howl that pumps out of long-tube headers on a giant V8, but they do exist.I’m far from the first person to point this out, and I’m sure I’ve said it here before, but whatkind of dense individual would you have to be to move next to a race track and then complain about all that wonderful noise?
All I canhope is thattheRolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and the traditions surrounding it never die. I doubt they ever will, and although it’s a bit hard to imagine what I might be doing in the year 2050, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I found myself at Laguna Secaonce again.
Right here at thebottom ofthe Corkscrew, admiring the racing heroes of2020 as they fly past, obsolete internal combustionsat wide open throttle, dancing about witha dash of oversteer. See you there?
Trevor Yale Ryan
Instagram:tyrphoto
Laguna Seca Forever
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14 comments
9:34 pmAugust 28, 2019Chad
Staggeringly good photos, Trevor! It really doesn't get any better.
4:01 amAugust 29, 2019Antonio
Beautiful pictures and an AWESOME write-up, Trevor! Seeing the stars & stripes Corvette takes me back to when I wanted it for my Tyco H/O scale slot car track back in the late '70s! Take care man!
1:56 pmAugust 30, 2019Trevor Ryan
Thanks Antonio! Yeah that is a wicked looking car. Couldn't get enough of it.
8:19 amAugust 29, 2019Shane Savage
agreed. for me, it was the Mazda's and the Olds. i remember being captivated by their futuristic look as a kid.
4:13 amAugust 29, 2019Nafis Malik
EPIC photography!
6:50 amAugust 29, 2019Jay Soh Tsu Chung
I’m not exaggerating when I say you can feel the downshifts, the flat-out acceleration, and the raucous backfire inside your chest cavity.
Best to experience this in person. B-)
6:54 amAugust 29, 2019Francis
Sadly, I think that it is more the fault of realtors trying to make money on cheap land by understating (or not disclosing even) the amount of noise that will come from the track
1:55 pmAugust 30, 2019Trevor Ryan
That's a good point, never thought of that. Still, I'd research where I move, which is why I don't live adjacent to a train track for example. I just feel they have no right to complain.
1:58 pmAugust 30, 2019Francis
Oh, I agree, but sadly money will win out if enough people complain... It's like the people near me that move in by a Naval Air Station, and complain about the jet noise... Only difference is that the govt. isn't gonna pack it up and leave.
8:27 pmAugust 30, 2019Trevor Ryan
Weirdly the government owns this track, too. Trouble is that means the taxpayers and homeowners have a lot of leverage on them.
12:15 pmAugust 29, 2019Matt Jones
I never knew what that red cast was on my old photo prints. I assumed it had to do with getting your film processed at the same place you buy your ice cream. Turns out it was just expired film. Neat!
3:40 pmAugust 29, 2019J
Did they not invite the audis out to play cuz they are still sore about it? Or did the audi drivers complain that the tracks were too rough for them to drive on?
3:20 amAugust 30, 2019Jack White
I think the words "dense individual" needs to be in bold. My thoughts exactly. If you don't like planes don't move under a flight path, if you can't swim. don't jump in the sea etc etc.
4:54 pmAugust 30, 2019Willson
Looks like you dug out a vintage photo book and scanned it amazing!